Indonesia

Menu: Nasi goreng (shrimp paste fried rice) and gado gado chicken skewers | Recipe Source: recipetineats.com and marionskitchen.com

Thoughts: The chicken skewers were good on their own but absolutely phenomenal with the gado gado sauce. Compared to peanut sauces that I’ve had at Thai restaurants, gado gado is more complex: somehow softer yet more acidic at the same time, with a fun peppery kick from the red curry paste. The nasi goreng very possibly ruined Chinese takeout fried rice for me. The combination kecap manis (thick, sweet soy sauce) and shrimp paste took what could have been a very standard fried rice dish and kicked it up a notch, and even though it took a while for the shrimp paste to dissolve into the cooking veggies, it was worth the effort.

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Gado Gado and Chicken Skewers: (link): I only used the sauce and skewers portion of this recipe and ignored the rest! For the chicken skewers, I followed the marinade ingredients closely but swapped vegetable oil for sesame oil (nuttier flavor) and added 1.5 tsp salt to the marinade. Instead of skewering the raw chicken, I cooked the marinated pieces for about 5-7 minutes over high heat, stirring consistently, and stopped when they were par-cooked. I let them cool slightly, skewered them, and then popped them in the broiler for 2-3 minutes on each side.

Nasi Goreng (link): I skipped the chicken in this recipe because I had already made the skewers, but otherwise I followed this recipe fairly closely! I cooked the onions, chopped chilis, and garlic together in sesame oil over low heat until fragrant, then added in the shrimp paste and moved the veggies around until it had thoroughly dissolved. Next, I added in the kecap manis, thoroughly coated the veggies, and let the mixture bubble for about 30 seconds. I added in the cold, pre-cooked rice and turned the heat to medium. When the rice was caramelized, I added the chopped green onions, let it cook for 1 minute longer, and then pulled it. There was supposed to be a fried egg topper but I totally forgot about it!